Magnetic small footprint inductor array module for on-package voltage regulator

ABSTRACT

An apparatus comprises an inductor module including: a module substrate including a magnetic dielectric material; a plurality of inductive circuit elements arranged in the module substrate, wherein an inductive circuit element includes conductive traces arranged as a coil including a first coil end, a second coil end and a coil core, wherein the coil core includes the magnetic dielectric material; and a plurality of conductive contact pads electrically coupled to the first and second coil ends. The contact pads electrically coupled to the first coil ends are arranged on a first surface of the inductor module, and the contact pads electrically coupled to the second coil ends are arranged on a second surface of the inductor module.

PRIORITY APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.14/974,978, filed Dec. 18, 2015, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to packaging of integrated circuits. Someembodiments relate to including inductors in integrated circuitpackages.

BACKGROUND

Electronic systems often include integrated circuits (ICs) that areconnected to a subassembly such as a substrate or motherboard. The ICscan be included in an IC package that is mounted on the subassembly. Aselectronic system designs become more complex, it is a challenge to meetthe desired size constraints of the system. One aspect that caninfluence the overall size of a design is spacing required for inductivecircuit elements that traditionally are relatively large. As the size ofthe electronic circuit assemblies are reduced and electronic packagesbecome more complex, the packaged electronic assemblies can become lessrobust and the cost of meeting the spacing requirements can increase.Thus, there are general needs for devices, systems and methods thataddress the spacing challenges for contacts of ICs yet provide a robustand cost effective design.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross section view of an inductor module in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a cross section of another inductor module in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a cross section of still another inductor module in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a cross section of still another inductor module in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a cross section of still another inductor module in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a cross section view of still another inductor nodule inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a different view of the inductor module of FIG. 6 inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a cross section view of an electronic circuit assembly inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a cross section view of another electronic circuit assembly inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a cross section view of still another electronic circuitassembly in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 11 is a cross section view of still another electronic circuitassembly in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 12 is a cross section view of still another electronic circuitassembly accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 13 is an electronic system in accordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a method of making an inductor module inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodimentsmay be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalentsof those claims.

As explained previously, inductive circuit elements can adversely impactthe size requirements of an electronic assembly. One approach is tofabricate air core inductors (ACIs) during the manufacturing of theelectronic package and incorporate the ACIs into the electronic circuitusing metal routing layers of the electronic packaging. ACIs include aninsulating dielectric material in the ACI core. They are referred to asACIs because the insulating dielectric material has the same, or nearlythe same, relative magnetic permeability as air (equal to 1.0). However,as ACIs are scaled to higher levels of inductance, the performance ofthe ACIs degrades and negatively impact the performance of the circuitsusing the ACIs.

FIG. 1 is a cross section view of an embodiment of an inductor module105. The inductor module 105 includes a module substrate 110 thatincludes a magnetic dielectric material. The magnetic dielectricmaterial may be a high resistivity magnetic material. In someembodiments, the magnetic material is a high resistivity material withrelative magnetic permeability μ greater than one (e.g., μ=2, 5, orlarger). In some embodiments, the magnetic dielectric material includesa magnetic particle polymer composite resin. The module substrate 110also includes multiple inductive circuit elements embedded or otherwisearranged in the module substrate 110. An inductive circuit element caninclude conductive traces arranged as an inductive coil 115 or inductor.In FIG. 1, the inductive elements are represented as schematic symboldrawings rather than an actual layout. The conductive traces may beincluded in layers of conductive material available in a substratefabrication process, such as a process for fabricating packagesubstrates for electronic circuit packages. In certain embodiments, thecoils are formed using metal layers available in the fabricationprocess. In certain variations, the metal layers include one or both ofcopper and aluminum. The inductive coils 115 include a first coil end, asecond coil end, and a coil core that includes the magnetic dielectricmaterial.

The inductor module 105 also includes conductive contact pads 120electrically coupled to the coil ends. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, thecontact pads are arranged on both the top surface and the bottom surfaceof the inductor module 105. In some embodiments, the inductive circuitelements may all have the same value of inductance. In some embodiments,the inductive circuit elements may have different values of inductance.The inductive circuit elements may be electrically coupled together(e.g., in series) to form an overall value of inductance. The inductormodule may then substitute for one or more conventional monolithicinductors and can be used with circuits requiring an inductor.

FIG. 2 is a cross section of another embodiment of an inductor module205. The inductor module 205 includes inductor coils 215 produced usingconductive trace routing within a region of magnetic dielectric material225. The inductor coils 215 are electrically coupled to contact pads220. One end of a coil is connected to a contact pad on the top surfaceof the inductor module 205 and the other end of the coil is connected toa contact pad on the bottom surface to form a “thru-module” topology.Conductive interconnect 230 may be located on the surface of theinductor module 205.

FIG. 3 is a cross section of another embodiment of an inductor module305. In the embodiment, the contact pads 320, which are electricallycoupled to the ends of the inductor coils 315, are all arranged on onesurface of the module substrate 310. This can be referred to as a“single sided” topology. FIG. 4 is a cross section of another embodimentof an inductor module 405. The ends of inductor coils 415 are shownelectrically coupled to contact pads 420 on one surface of the inductormodule 405.

FIG. 5 is a cross section of another embodiment of an inductor module505. The embodiment has a thru-module topology, and one end of a coil isconnected to a contact pad on the top surface of the inductor module 505and the other end of the coil is connected to a contact pad on thebottom surface. In the embodiment, the module substrate 510 includes themagnetic dielectric material in a first region 535 of the modulesubstrate 510 and a non-magnetic dielectric material in a second region540 of the module substrate 510. The first region 535 includes theinductive circuit elements and the second region 540 includes one ormore signal vias 545. A signal via can be electrically coupled to acontact pad 520 on the first surface of the inductor module and acontact pad 520 on the second surface of the inductor module 505. Thevias provide for signals to be routed through the inductor module 505,which can improve signal routing density in an electronic circuitassembly.

FIG. 6 is a cross section view of another embodiment of an inductormodule 605. The inductor module 605 includes a silicon substrate 612. Incertain examples, multiple inductor modules are formed on a siliconwafer and diced into individual inductor module die. The inductor module605 includes a first thin film layer 675 of magnetic material disposedon the silicon substrate 612 and an insulating layer 680 arranged abovethe first thin film layer 675. Multiple inductive circuit elements arearranged in the insulating layer 680. An inductive circuit elementincludes a conductive trace 617 having a first trace end and a secondtrace end. In certain embodiments, the conductive traces include copper.A second thin film layer 677 of magnetic material is disposed above theinsulating layer 680. The second thin film layer 677 contacts the firstthin film layer 675 in one or more locations on the inductor module 605.The first and second thin film layers may form a shell of magneticmaterial around the inductive circuit elements and the layer ofinsulating material.

FIG. 7 is another view the inductor module of FIG. 6. The inductormodule 705 includes conductive contact pads 720 electrically coupled tofirst trace ends of the conductive traces and are arranged on a topsurface of the inductor module 705 and includes conductive contact padselectrically coupled to second trace ends of the conductive traces andarranged on a bottom surface of the inductor module. Thus, the inductormodule 705 has a thru-module topology. In certain embodiments, theinductor module 705 includes one or more signal vias (not shown) in thesilicon substrate to connect the second trace ends to the contact padson the bottom surface of the silicon substrate. In certain embodiments,the inductor module 705 includes one or more signal vias between acontact pad on the top surface of the inductor module and a contact onthe bottom surface of the inductor module to route signals through theinductor module 705. In other embodiments, the contact pads are allarranged on one surface of the module substrate in a single sidedtopology similar to the embodiment of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a cross section view of an embodiment of an electronic circuitassembly. The assembly includes an inductor module 805 and an IC 850.The inductor module 805 includes a thru-module topology and includescontact pads arranged on both the top surface and the bottom surface ofthe inductor module 805. In some embodiments, the IC includes a voltageregulator circuit (e.g., a switching regulator circuit). In theembodiment, the IC 850 is arranged on the top surface of the inductormodule 805. The assembly may include conductive traces electricallycoupling at least a portion of the contact pads of the inductor module605 to at least a portion of the contact pads of the IC 850. In someembodiments, the contact pads on the bottom surface of the IC aredirectly bonded to contact pads of the top surface of the inductormodule 805. In certain embodiments, the contact pads of the IC 850 andthe top surface of the inductor module 805 have a different pitch thanthe contact pads of the bottom surface of the inductor module 805. Pitchrefers to the feature size and spacing available for the contact pads ofthe IC and inductor module 805. The assembly can include conductiverouting (e.g., metal lines) to electrically couple the contact pads.

To reduce the size of electronic circuit assemblies, it may be desiredto incorporate power management circuits (e.g., voltage regulatorcircuits) with circuits of higher density and complexity, such asprocessor circuits (e.g., a central processor unit or CPU). In someembodiments, the electronic assembly also includes a package substrate855 for an electronic package assembly and a second IC 860. The secondIC 860 can include a CPU, memory controller, or other type of electronicdevice. The second IC 860 includes contact pads, and the inductor module805 and the second IC 860 are arranged on the top surface of the packagesubstrate 855. The substrate can include conductive interconnect betweencontact pads of the inductor module and the contact pads of the secondIC 860.

FIG. 9 is a cross section view of another embodiment of an electroniccircuit assembly. The assembly includes an inductor module 905, a firstIC 950, a second IC 960, and a substrate for an electronic package. Theinductor module 905 has a that-module topology. The first IC 950 mayinclude a voltage regulator circuit and the second IC may include a CPUor other electronic device. The first IC is arranged on a surface of theinductor module 905, and the inductor module 905 is arranged on a firstsurface (e.g. bottom surface) of the package substrate 955. The secondIC 960 is arranged on a second surface (e.g., top surface) of thesubstrate. The substrate includes conductive interconnect betweencontact pads of the inductor module and contact pads of the second IC.

FIG. 10 is a cross section view of another embodiment of an electroniccircuit assembly. The assembly includes an inductor module 1005, a firstIC 1050, and a package substrate 1055. The inductor module 1005 isarranged (e.g., embedded) in the substrate. In some embodiments, arecess or cavity is formed in the package substrate during a substratemanufacturing process and the inductor module is placed inside therecess or cavity. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of theinductor module substrate may match the CTE of the package substratematerial. The recess may be milled into the package substrate and theinductor module may be held to the substrate with adhesive.

The first IC 1050 is arranged on a surface of the substrate/moduleassembly above the inductor module 1005. In certain embodiments, asurface of the inductor module 1005 is at a surface of the packagesubstrate. In certain embodiments, the surface of the inductor module1005 is below the surface of the package substrate, and the packagesubstrate includes conductive interconnect (e.g., multiple metal layers)on either side of the inductor module. The conductive interconnect mayinclude input/output routing to contact pads or for routing circuitpower.

The assembly can include a second IC 1060. The first IC 1050 can includea power management circuit and can be arranged on a first surface of thepackage substrate 1055 and the second IC 1060 can be arranged on asecond surface of the package substrate 1055 opposite the first surface.In the example embodiment of FIG. 10, the first IC 1050 is arranged onthe bottom surface of the substrate and the second IC 1060 is arrangedon the top surface. The inductor module 1005 includes the thru-moduletopology and includes contact pads arranged on both the top surface andthe bottom surface of the inductor module 1005. The surfaces of theinductor module 1005 can be at the surfaces of the package substrate. Incertain embodiments, the surfaces of the inductor module 1005 can bebelow the surfaces of the package substrate 1055, and the packagesubstrate includes conductive interconnect between contact pads of theinductor module and contact pads of the second IC. In some embodiments,the package substrate includes conductive interconnect between at leasta portion of the contacts pads of the first IC and contact pads of thesecond IC to route signals between the first and second IC.

FIG. 11 is a cross section view of another embodiment of an electroniccircuit assembly. The assembly includes an inductor module 1105, apackage substrate 1155, and an IC 1170. The contact pads of the inductormodule 1105 are all arranged on one surface of the inductor modulesubstrate. The IC 1170 is arranged on a separate surface of the packagesubstrate 1155 from the inductor module 1105. In the example embodimentof FIG. 11, the IC 1170 is arranged on the top surface of the packagesubstrate 1155 and inductor modules are arranged on the bottom surfaceof the package substrate 1155. The package substrate 1155 includesconductive interconnect between the inductor module and the IC 1170. Incertain embodiments, the IC 1170 includes one or more power managementcircuits 1152. In certain embodiments, the IC 1170 includes a CPU 1160or other electronic device and one or more power management circuits.

FIG. 12 is a cross section view of another embodiment of an electroniccircuit assembly. Like the example embodiment of FIG. 11, the assemblyincludes an inductor module 1205, a package substrate 1255, and an IC1270. The IC 1270 can include one or more power management circuits 1252and a CPU. The contact pads of the inductor module 1205 are all arrangedon one surface of the inductor module substrate. In this embodimentexample, one or more inductor modules are arranged within the packagesubstrate 1255.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an example of an electronic system 1300incorporating at least one electronic circuit assembly and in accordancewith at least one embodiment of the invention. Electronic system 1300 ismerely one example in which embodiments of the present invention can beused. Examples of electronic systems 1300 include, but are not limitedto personal computers, tablet computers, mobile telephones, gamedevices, etc. In this example, electronic system 1300 comprises a dataprocessing system that includes a system bus 1302 to couple the variouscomponents of the system. System bus 1302 provides communications linksamong the various components of the electronic system 1300 and can beimplemented as a single bus, as a combination of busses, or in any othersuitable manner.

An electronic assembly 1310 can be coupled to system bus 1302. Theelectronic assembly 1310 can include any circuit or combination ofcircuits. In one embodiment, the electronic assembly 1310 includes aprocessor 1312 which can be of any type. As used herein, “processor”means any type of computational circuit, such as but not limited to amicroprocessor, a microcontroller, a complex instruction set computing(CISC) microprocessor, a reduced. instruction set computing (RISC)microprocessor, a very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, agraphics processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), multiple coreprocessor, or any other type of processor or processing circuit.

Other types of circuits that can be included in electronic assembly 1310are a custom circuit, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC),or the like, such as, for example, one or more circuits (such as acommunications circuit 1314 for use in wireless devices like mobiletelephones, personal data assistants, portable computers, two-wayradios, and similar electronic systems. The IC can perform any othertype of function.

The electronic system 1300 can also include an external memory 520,which in turn can include one or more memory elements suitable to theparticular application, such as a main memory 1322 in the form of randomaccess memory (RAM), one or more hard drives 1324, and/or one or moredrives that handle removable media 1326 such as compact disks (CD),flash memory cards, digital video disk (DVD), and the like.

The electronic system 1300 can also include a display device 1316, oneor more speakers 1318, and a keyboard and/or controller 1330, which caninclude a mouse, trackball, touch screen, voice-recognition device, orany other device that permits a system user to input information intoand receive information from the electronic system 1300.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a method of making an inductor module. At1405, multiple inductive circuit elements are formed in a modulesubstrate. The module substrate includes a magnetic dielectric material.In some embodiments, the magnetic material includes polymer compositeresin that includes magnetic particles. In some embodiments, theinductive circuit elements are inductor coils formed using layers ofconductive traces. In some examples the conductive traces includecopper. The inductive coils includes a first coil end, a second coilend, and a coil core of the magnetic dielectric material. The magneticcore of the inductor coils allows for increased inductance values of thecoils over air core inductors of comparable size and provides improvedperformance over air core inductors.

At 1410, the first coil ends and the second coil ends of the inductorcoils are conductively coupled to contact pads arranged on one or moresurfaces of the module substrate. The conductive coupling may includeconductive traces formed in the substrate module to extend from the coilends to the contact pads. In some embodiments, the conductive padscoupled to the first coil ends are arranged on a first surface (e.g.,top surface) of the module substrate and the conductive pads coupled tothe second coil ends are arranged on a second surface (e.g., bottomsurface) of the module substrate.

In some embodiments, the module substrate with the magnetic dielectricmaterial is formed to have a CTE that matches the CTE of the material ofthe substrate of an electronic package. This allows the inductor moduleto be embedded in the substrate material of the electronic package, suchas shown in the embodiment examples of FIGS. 10 and 12. In someembodiments, the inductor module is embedded in the substrate by cuttinga hole in the substrate core module and gluing the inductor module inplace. Routing layers (e.g., metal layers) can be formed above and belowthe substrate core to add interconnect for the inductor module.

The devices, systems, and methods described that use an inductive moduleformed with magnetic dielectric material can allow for small electronicpackaging while improving the scalability of the inductance of theinductors of the module. The higher values of inductance reducedegradation of performance as the inductance value is scaled to highervalues.

ADDITIONAL DESCRIPTION AND EXAMPLES

Example 1 can include subject matter (such as an apparatus) comprisingan inductor module including: a module substrate including a magneticdielectric material; a plurality of inductive circuit elements arrangedin the module substrate, wherein an inductive circuit element includesconductive traces arranged as a coil including a first coil end, asecond coil end and a coil core, wherein the coil core includes themagnetic dielectric material; and a plurality of conductive contact padselectrically coupled to the first and second coil ends, wherein contactpads electrically coupled to the first coil ends are arranged on a firstsurface of the inductor module, and the contact pads electricallycoupled to the second coil ends are arranged on a second surface of theinductor module.

In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 optionally includesmagnetic dielectric material that includes a magnetic particle polymercomposite resin.

In Example 3, the subject matter of one or both of Examples 1 and 2optionally includes a module substrate including the magnetic dielectricin a first region and a non-magnetic dielectric region in a secondregion, wherein the first region includes the inductive circuit elementsand the second region includes one or more signal vias, wherein a signalvia is electrically coupled to a contact pad on the first surface of theinductor module and a contact pad on the second surface of the inductormodule.

In Example 4, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-3 optionally includes a first integrated circuit (IC) includingcontact pads; and conductive interconnect electrically coupling at leasta portion of the contact pads of the inductor module to at least aportion of the contact pads of the IC.

In Example 5, the subject matter of Example 4 optionally includes thefirst IC including a voltage regulator circuit.

In Example 6, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples 4and 5 optionally includes the first IC is arranged on a surface of theinductor module.

In Example 7, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples4-6 optionally includes a package substrate of an electronic packageassembly; and a second IC that includes contact pads, wherein theinductor module and the second IC are arranged on a first surface of thepackage substrate, and the first IC is arranged on a surface of theinductor module, wherein the substrate includes conductive interconnectbetween contact pads of the inductor module and contact pads of thesecond IC.

In Example 8, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples4-6 optionally includes a package substrate of an electronic packageassembly and a second IC; wherein the first IC is arranged on a surfaceof the inductor module, the inductor module is arranged on a firstsurface of the package substrate, and the second IC is arranged on asecond surface of the substrate, wherein the second substrate includescontact pads and the substrate includes conductive interconnect betweencontact pads of the inductor module and contact pads of the second IC.

In Example 9, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-8 optionally includes a package substrate of an electronic packageassembly, wherein the inductor module is arranged in the packagesubstrate and the package substrate includes the conductiveinterconnect.

In Example 10, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-6 and 9 optionally includes a second IC, wherein the first IC includesa voltage regulator circuit and is arranged on a first surface of thepackage substrate, the second IC includes a processor circuit arrangedon a second surface of the package substrate, and the package substrateincludes the conductive interconnect electrically coupling at least aportion of the contact pads of the inductor module to at least a portionof the contact pads of the first IC, and includes conductiveinterconnect electrically coupling at least a portion of the contactpads of the first IC to at least a portion of the contact pads of thesecond IC.

Example 11 includes subject matter (such as an apparatus), or canoptionally be combined with one or any combination of Examples 1-10 toinclude such subject matter, comprising an integrated circuit (IC); aninductor module including: a module substrate including a magneticdielectric material; a plurality of inductive circuit elements arrangedin the module substrate, wherein an inductive circuit element includesconductive traces arranged as a coil including a first coil end, asecond coil end and a coil core, wherein the coil core includes themagnetic dielectric material; and a plurality of conductive contact padselectrically coupled to first coil and second coil ends and arranged onone surface of the inductor module; and a package substrate of anelectronic package assembly, wherein the package substrate includesconductive interconnect between the inductor module and the IC, and theIC is arranged on a separate surface of the package substrate from theinductor module.

in Example 12, the subject matter of Example 11 optionally includes anIC that is arranged on a first surface of the package substrate andincludes a voltage regulator circuit and a processor circuit, andwherein the inductor module is arranged on a second surface of thepackage substrate.

In Example 13, the subject matter of Example 11 optionally includes anIC that is arranged on a first surface of the package substrate andincludes a voltage regulator circuit and a processor circuit, theinductor module is arranged within the package substrate.

In Example 14, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples11-13 optionally includes the magnetic dielectric material including amagnetic particle polymer composite resin.

Example 15 includes subject matter (such as an apparatus), or canoptionally be combined with one or any combination of Examples 1-14 toinclude such subject matter, comprising an inductor module including: asilicon substrate; a first thin film layer of magnetic material disposedon the substrate; an insulating layer arranged above the first thin filmlayer; a plurality of inductive circuit elements arranged in theinsulating layer, wherein an inductive circuit element includes aconductive trace having a first trace end and a second trace end; asecond thin film layer of magnetic material disposed above insulatinglayer, wherein the second thin film layer contacts the first thin filmlayer in one or more locations on the inductor module; and a firstplurality of conductive contact pads electrically coupled to first traceends and arranged on a top surface of the inductor module, and a secondplurality of conductive contact pads electrically coupled to secondtrace ends and arranged on a bottom surface of the inductor module.

in Example 16, the subject matter of Example 15 optionally includes afirst integrated circuit (IC) including contact pads and a voltageregulator circuit; and conductive interconnect electrically coupling atleast a portion of the contact pads of the inductor module to at least aportion of the contact pads of the IC.

in Example 17, the subject matter of Example 16 optionally includes apackage substrate of an electronic package assembly; and a second ICthat includes contact pads, wherein the inductor module and the secondIC are arranged on a first surface of the package substrate, and thefirst IC is arranged on a surface of the inductor module, wherein thesubstrate includes conductive interconnect between contact pads of theinductor module and contact pads of the second IC.

In Example 18, the subject matter of Example 16, optionally includes apackage substrate of an electronic package assembly and a second IC;wherein the first IC is arranged on a surface of the inductor module,the inductor module is arranged on a first surface of the packagesubstrate, and the second IC is arranged on a second surface of thesubstrate, wherein the second substrate includes contact pads and thesubstrate includes conductive interconnect between contact pads of theinductor module and contact pads of the second IC.

In Example 19, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples15-18 optionally includes a package substrate of an electronic packageassembly, wherein the inductor module is arranged in the packagesubstrate and the package substrate includes the conductiveinterconnect.

In Example 20, the subject matter of Example 19 optionally includes asecond IC, wherein the first IC includes a voltage regulator circuit andis arranged on a first surface of the package substrate, the second ICincludes a processor circuit arranged on a second surface of the packagesubstrate, and the package substrate includes the conductiveinterconnect electrically coupling at least a portion of the contactpads of the inductor module to at least a portion of the contact pads ofthe first IC, and includes conductive interconnect electrically couplingat least a portion of the contact pads of the first IC to at least aportion of the contact pads of the second IC.

Example 21 includes subject matter (such as an electronic assembly), orcan optionally be combined with the subject matter of one or anycombination of Examples 1-20 to include such subject matter, comprisinga first IC including contact pads and a voltage regulator circuit; andan inductor module including: a module substrate including a magneticdielectric material; a plurality of inductive circuit elements arrangedin the module substrate, wherein an inductive circuit element includesconductive traces arranged as a coil including a first end and a secondend and a core, wherein the coil core includes the magnetic dielectricmaterial; and a plurality of conductive contact pads electricallycoupled to the first and second coil ends and arranged on one or moremodule surfaces, wherein the IC is arranged on a surface of the inductormodule and wherein at least a portion of the contact pads of theinductor module are electrically coupled to the contact pads of thevoltage regulator circuit.

In Example 22, the subject matter of Example 21 optionally includes asecond IC including a processor circuit and contact pads; and a packagesubstrate for an electronic package assembly, wherein the inductormodule and the second IC are arranged on a first surface of the packagesubstrate and the first IC is arranged on the inductor module, andwherein the package substrate includes conductive interconnect betweencontact pads of the inductor module and contact pads of the second IC.

In Example 23, the subject matter of Example 21 optionally includes asecond IC including a processor circuit and contact pads; a packagesubstrate of an electronic package assembly, wherein the first IC andthe inductor module are arranged on a first surface of the packagesubstrate and the second IC is arranged on a second surface of thepackage substrate, wherein the package substrate includes conductiveinterconnect between contact pads of the inductor module and contactpads of the second IC.

In Example 24, the subject matter of Example 21 optionally includes asecond IC including a processor circuit and contact pads; and a packagesubstrate of an electronic package assembly, wherein the inductor moduleis embedded in the package substrate, wherein the first IC is arrangedon a first surface of the package substrate, the second IC is arrangedon a second surface of the package substrate, and the inductor moduleincludes one or more vias electrically coupled to one or more contactpads of the first IC and one or more contacts pads of the second IC.

in Example 25, the subject matter of Example 24 optionally includes amodule substrate of the inductor module having a coefficient of thermalexpansion (CTE) that matches the CTE of the package substrate of theelectronic package assembly.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b)requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the natureand gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scopeor meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporatedinto the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic assembly including: a first ICincluding contact pads and a voltage regulator circuit; and an inductormodule including: a module substrate including a magnetic dielectricmaterial; a first surface at the top of the inductor module and a secondsurface at the bottom of the inductor module; a plurality of inductivecircuit elements arranged in the module substrate, wherein an inductivecircuit element includes conductive traces arranged as a coil orientedto extend in the direction from the first surface to the second surfaceand including a first end and a second end and a core, wherein the coilcore includes the magnetic dielectric material; and a plurality ofconductive contact pads electrically coupled to the first and secondcoil ends, wherein contact pads electrically coupled to the first coilends are arranged on the first surface, and the contact padselectrically coupled to the second coil ends are arranged on the secondsurface; wherein the first IC is arranged on a surface of the inductormodule and wherein at least a portion of the contact pads of theinductor module are electrically coupled to the contact pads of thevoltage regulator circuit.
 2. The electronic assembly of claim 1,including: a second IC including a processor circuit and contact pads;and a package substrate for an electronic package assembly, wherein theinductor module and the second IC are arranged on a first surface of thepackage substrate and the first IC is arranged on the inductor module,and wherein the package substrate includes conductive interconnectbetween contact pads of the inductor module and contact pads of thesecond IC.
 3. The electronic assembly of claim 1, a second IC includinga processor circuit and contact pads; and a package substrate of anelectronic package assembly, wherein the first IC and the inductormodule are arranged on a first surface of the package substrate and thesecond IC is arranged on a second surface of the package substrate,wherein the package substrate includes conductive interconnect betweencontact pads of the inductor module and contact pads of the second IC.4. The electronic assembly of claim 1, including: a second IC includinga processor circuit and contact pads; and a package substrate of anelectronic package assembly, wherein the inductor module is embedded inthe package substrate, wherein the first IC is arranged on a firstsurface of the package substrate, the second IC is arranged on a secondsurface of the package substrate, and the inductor module includes oneor more vias electrically coupled to one or more contact pads of thefirst IC and one or more contacts pads of the second IC.
 5. Theelectronic assembly of claim 4, wherein a coefficient of thermalexpansion (CTE) of the module substrate of the inductor module matchesthe CTE of the package substrate of the electronic package assembly. 6.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inductor module includes a thrumodule topology, and an inductive circuit element of the plurality ofinductive circuit elements extends from a contact pad arranged on thefirst surface at the top of the inductor module to a contact padarranged on the bottom surface of the inductor module.
 7. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the module substrate includes the magneticdielectric in a first region and a non-magnetic dielectric region in asecond region, wherein the first region includes the inductive circuitelements and the second region includes one or more signal vias, whereina signal via is electrically coupled to a contact pad on the firstsurface of the inductor module and a contact pad on the second surfaceof the inductor module.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein themagnetic dielectric material includes a magnetic particle polymercomposite resin.